Author's note: Wow! Has it really been five months? For a while I just did not know what to write next and . . . . Then there was school which opened a big can of ugh all over my time. I have been thinking about the host family and I think you will like them. I also may add honorifics after all as Honey tends to say them but not everyone will use them. In other news a manga I created is going to be published in seqapunch magazine hurrah! It is called Monster Phobia so if you read the magazine check it out. Now on to the story~

EDITED :2/13/14

Tea with Honey

Chapter 5

Host Family is NOT full of hosts

Last time on Tea with Honey:I tilt my head towards the window and peered inside the home. It was a bit dim and felt… lonely. Still no one was home. How am I going to get inside without breaking the law?

I guess I could break the law as I am in a whole different universe but I wouldn't be able to get out of jail now would I? . . . Oh and breaking into people's homes is wrong. Well I could try one trick I know from acting class but I don't know if I should try it. As I pondered on what I should do the sound of footsteps were heard coming towards the door. Was someone inside after all? I turn to the door that gradually began to open and saw a head of very long jet black hair peek out from the door. Delicate grey eyes stared into mine and there seemed to be a slight flash of fear in them as they took in my form. Was I intimidating or something?

"Welcome to the Nakamura household. I apologize for leaving you waiting here so long." Said a soft spoken but deep lady like voice.

I was thinking silently until I composed myself and replied that it was alright. I didn't have to do anything drastic after all which is a relief.

"My name is Aki won't you come in host sister?" Aki then led me inside the house and closed the door behind us.

Aki turned to face me and I took in Aki's full appearance. A Japanese fourteen maybe fifteen year old stood in front of me. Aki was dressed in a black yukata covered in maple leaves and had black hime hair that reached mid-thigh though Aki's eyes were lidded I can see the light grey irises in them. Aki looked like a feudal princess but there seemed to be something odd going on.

"Mother is resting but she really looked forward to meeting you..um."

"Oh. My name is Tina Arwood, thank you for having me." I returned a late bow and shifted on my feet nervously. "Sorry for being late but there was a …complication and I ended up at Lobelia." I explained. Aki gave me the same look from before until …her face was suddenly covered by a fan. Aki seems to be hiding something from me. And what is with this traditional theme? The interior of the house looked more like a modern home except there was a kotatsu in the living room. The living room had a cool atmosphere with light green curtains on the windows, pale white carpeting and walls, with touches of traditional lantern lights around the house.

"It is alright Tina, but would you like something to eat?" Aki fluttered the fan a bit as if to calm down. I politely declined as it was a bit late though I did ask where I could sleep and… if they had some pajamas for me. Aki's eyes widened and the fan in Aki's hand twitched, "Ah. What happened to your luggage?"

I rubbed the back of my head and smiled sheepishly. Guess I could just tell the truth. "I was given a ride from a boy from Ouran Academy and my luggage was left in the limo."

Aki's eyes narrowed a bit at the word boy and spoke " I am sorry about this Tina as boys even boys from Ouran are no-good. I'll see what I can do."

Someone seemed to have an issue with males but I guess this is a Lobelia supported area. Aki led me upstairs and into a room with a light blue wall paper, white shag carpeting, a bed, and a desk.

"This is your room Aki." From the doorway Aki continued to speak. "Please wait here as I get you some clothes."

I sat down on the bed and thought over Aki's strange behavior. It seems that even if someone is not part of the canon they can still be interesting. Aki returned with some orange plaid pajamas that seemed a little on the larger side.

"Here are some of my pajamas Tina I hope they fit well."

"Thank you." I took the clothes and placed them on the bed. "Will I be seeing you at Lobelia tomorrow Aki?"

Aki's eyes lowered to the ground, "No as I attend Ouran Academy."

"Do you know of Tamaki by any chance? He is the one who gave me the ride."

Aki leaned in close to my face with searching eyes. "W-what?" I stammered as I tried not to get too close. Aki didn't find whatever she was looking for and leaned back with a sigh of relief. Aki reopened the fan and said " Of course it had to be him at least you aren't fawning after him." I would think Aki was jealous if there was a deep glare set on her face. Aki's face softened at my stare and told me goodnight. I returned the sentiment and Aki left my new room. Closing the door I changed into to the pajamas. They were a little big as the sleeves went past my hands but it will stay on my body and that's what is important.

This day was pretty exhausting I think I will just go to sleep now. I set up an alarm in the room and yawned. I climbed into to bed and pulled the covers up to my chin and drifted off to sleep.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains from the morning sun and warmed the room. Rolling around in bed I gave a long stretch and sighed. Time to get up. Looking at the Lobelia uniform I decided to try it on. I dressed in the Lobelia uniform that was in the closet and then folded my pajamas and placed them under my pillow. I brushed and braided my hair in a single braid and checked myself out in the mirror. I think I look pretty darn good in this uniform. The red skirt ended at the knees while my shirt stopped a little past the elbows. I decided to wear dark stockings instead of knee socks as I feel they look nice on me and even though I chose a long skirt I like to feel covered. Now that I have that out of my system I should put on some regular clothes since I don't go to Lobelia until Monday. I'll just dress in the clothes I wore yesterday.

After I finished making my bed I walked out of my room. I wonder if Aki is ready for school it would be cool to see the uniform on her. When I reached what I think was Aki's room I knocked carefully. The door opened and Aki came out half-dressed and not looking at me said "Mother not yet I have to hurry before Tina…"

"Before Tina found out you were of the opposite sex?" I unthinkingly supplied. Aki looked at me in shock as HE realized that I was not his mom. In front of me the elegant Aki had no shirt on and instead of a bra cladded girl I saw a boy's chest with the lower half of his body in the yellow Ouran girl uniform.

Huh. He was a trap. I should have known since I have seen enough androgynous anime characters to tell the gender apart. Interesting though is how all that is his actual hair. I'm a little jealous. Aki, who was in shock realized he was in the hallway half naked in front of a girl now grew a fierce blush and stuttered "EH? I-I'm please excuse me!" And slammed the door in my face.

"That's my son Aki little Tina!" I turned my head to a woman with a brown bob cut and dark gray eyes and dressed in a tan dress suit. Was this miss Nakamura? She clasped my hands and starred into my eyes with a watery stare. "Let us explain!"

Now sitting at the kotatsu, Aki and Miss Nakamura sat in front of me. Aki was now fully dressed in the Ouran uniform and sat with his fan quickly fanning his face and eyes darting across the room. Miss Nakamura calmly drank a sip of tea then glanced at her son. "My son Aki has a healthy fear of females you see." A healthy fear of females? Not what I expected but okay. "Aki only feels secure when he is dressed as a girl but when dressed as a boy he becomes extremely paranoid."

I looked at Aki again who was adjusting his dress sleeves and patting his hair. "So that is why he dresses in the girl uniform? And it would be too risky for him to go to Lobelia right?" Okay I can handle another cross dresser. Not that I really thought I would have to deal with any.

Ms. Nakamura clapped her hands and gave me a smile. "Kya~! You're so smart Tina just as I expected from a fellow Lobelia student! I used to go to Lobelia back in my youth you know."

"I'm sure you're as young as ever Ms. Nakamura…" I replied. Why did I say that? Ms. Nakamura stared at me and then burst out into giggles. "Thank you Tina!" Was that a blush?! Urgh I have this weird habit of smooth talking. I was called silver tongued Tina back in Texas.

"Now that this issue is out of the way why don't Aki show you to his school?"

"Mother?!" Aki who was composed was now shocked once again by his mother idea. Ms. Nakamura turned her head at Aki and leveled him with a stare.

"It is the least you can do for having her find out your secret with you indecent is it not?" Aki blushed again at the memory while I looked back a bit fondly at the reveal. Just like in manga and anime so I guess I have to get used to surprises like this.

"I'd like that Ms. Nakamura if it is alright." Realizing that there was no way out of this Aki bowed his head then agreed.

I stood outside with Aki who was fanning himself once again. "You… are alright with me dressing as a girl Tina?" Tilting my head towards Aki I replied "...yes."

"...You hesitated." I hold up a hand in my defense.

"Just wanted to give you an honest answer and I didn't hesitate I just thought about my reply."

Though I never imagined it much outside of manga and anime. You aren't the only cross dresser around though you in a way are my official first one. Guess I should start getting used to things like this.

Aki said nothing at that but just stared at me with those stormy eyes of his. Thoughts hidden but still obviously racing by his eyes. Acting casually I gave a twitchy grin and continued to walk by his side. We then continued to walk to Ouran Academy as it wasn't far from Lobelia apparently. We were almost to Ouran when a Lobelia girl stopped in front of us. Just a relatively normal looking girl with brown hair in two ponytails and brown eyes,

"You…are Aki Nakamura?" Aki shifted and looked at his fan. Is this seriously happening right now? A catty confrontation is not what I need today. Besides being ignored by this girl and the odd air between my new anime brother and myself and this whole predicament I'm in I could feel myself beginning to not care.

"To be from the Nakamura family…a great supporter of Lobelia and attend Ouran Academy? It's terrible! But I guess there is no helping it considering your…gender. You should have just moved from the Lobelia grounds." Aki stood resigned behind his fan while I think about what to do. What to say to a girl like this...? Coming to a decision I let myself speak.

"I will be attending Lobelia soon you know." The girl turned her attention to me her eyes sparkling a little. "I wonder how the Zuka club will feel with you acting this way? It is... unbecoming of a woman and a Lobelia student." My shoulders slackened as I felt calmer releasing some of my frustration at this girl. Will she buy that because I was just improvising.

The color drained from the girl's face and her eyes flash with something as they widen. A brief look of confusion passes her face as she glances at Aki then with trembling legs she rushes off passed us to school. She looked back at me with a blush and then continued running. More blushing?!

Gosh I hope I didn't embarrass Aki because I can not believe I just did that. We stayed standing on the sidewalk as the girl vanished into the distance. I watched as cars and limos passed by and as luscious trees displayed the richness of the area. Why weren't we moving? Aki acted as if frozen in place. Isn't Aki going to be late? I hope I didn't make him uncomfortable or 'shame' his pride or something.

"The truth is…" I looked towards Aki who began to speak. "When I was younger I was bullied. Being born as a boy caused problems when living so close to Lobelia. Lobelia girls would tease and bully me sometimes for being prettier than them."

Well you kind of are and you're confident in your looks it seems.

"When I looked for help from a boy near by… he just bullied me for looking so much like a girl. One day a Lobelia girl mistook me for a girl and I was treated well. Guys even treated me better when they thought I was some pretty girl."

I think I understand but why tell me this? I'm just your host sister.

A look of happiness and disbelief crossed Aki's face. "But Tina, you defended me… even though you know I'm a boy?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he wasn't as confident as I thought. It's is true that I usually don't do these kind of things like defending people I barely know but... It felt like I was at home watching an anime. When there is an underdog being pressured with no one to help makes me want to speak my mind. Trying to act as a confident girl is hard but if there is one thing I am good at is acting.

"Of course I did. Aren't you my new little brother?" Am I being too forward? You two are all I have right now…

Aki looked away and said "And you're…my new big sister?" I gave a mostly genuinely happy grin, "Smart and pretty? We're definitely related!" Aki gave a small smile and laughed. As we continued on our way to Ouran there was one thing I didn't notice. One more blush.